Exam I Flashcards
allele
a gene variant, one or more alternative forms of a gene
analogy
a trait that is shared in two or more groups that was not present in a common ancestor but that instead arose due to convergent evolution
animal behavior
a discipline where evolution, learning, genetics, molecular biology, development, neurobiology, and endocrinology congeal into one subject
artifical selection
a type of selection in which humans select traits that are bred for
behavior
the coordinated responses of a whole living organism to internal and/or external stimuli
conceptual approaches
integrating formerly disparate and unconnected ideas and combining them into new, cohesive ways
convergent evolution
The process leading to production of analogous traits. Usually caused by a similar but independent responses to a common environmental pressure
cultural transmission
A transmission system in which animals learn behaviors through social learning. Allows newly acquired traits to spread rapidly and be adopted by entire populations, as well as allowing information to be carried through from generation to generation
dendrites
The part of the nerve cell that receives impulses from other cells. This is a form of information collection
direct fitness
Measured by the number of viable offspring produced, plus any effects that an individual might have on the direct descendants of its own offspring.
Domestication syndrome
Traits that come out through domestication over generations can be phyical or psychological
Dominant (allele)
A single copy of the allele is needed for the trait to be expressed
Ecology
The focus on how animals interact with their environment
Empirical Approaches
Observational or experimental studies. An empirical approach gathers observable data and sets out a repeatable process to produce verifiable results. Empirical analysis often requires statistical analysis to support a claim
Endocrine system
“Communication network” of hormone glands that secrete directly into the bloodstream and influence many aspects of behavior. This includes the adrenal gland, thyroid, pituitary gland, pancreas, gonads and hypothalamus
Ethology
The scientific study of animal behavior; including feeding, mating, fighting, etc. The main questions about behavior include mechanism, development, survival value, and evolutionary history
Eusociality
An extreme form of sociality including cooperative care of offspring often with only one reproducing female, divison of labor, overlapping generations
genetic recombination
a recombination of genes during cell division in sexually reproducing organisms that involves sections of one chromosomes crossing over and swapping positions with sections of the homologous chromosome
genetic variation
variation caused by genetic differences
genotype
genetic makeup of an organism
habituation
responses to stimuli begin to decrease and return to a baseline level when an animal is exposed to the same stimuli over and over
heritability
a measure of the proportion of variance in a trait that is due to genetic variance
homology
a trait that is present in two or more groups that was inherited from a common ancestor
homoplasy
a trait that is shared between two or more species, not because they share an ancestor but natural selection has acted independently on each species
Inbreeding depression
reduced survival and fertility of offspring of related individuals due to inbreeding
inclusive fitness
the sum of an individual’s direct and indirect fitness
indirect fitness
Measured by the increased reproductive success of an individual’s 1’s behavior. These actions indirectly gets copies of individual’s 1’s genes into the next generation
Kin selection
Expanding the bounds of classic natural selection models by demonstrating that natural selection not only factors behaviors that increase the reproductive success of individuals expressing that behavior, but also favors behaviors that increase the reproductive success of those individuals’ close genetic kin.
Laboratory artifacts
behaviors that don’t happen naturally outside of laboratory’s or captivity
Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment
Mendel’s second law states: whichever allele is passed down to the next generation at one locus is independent of which allele is passed down at other loci
Mendel’s Principle of Segregation
Mendel’s first law states: individuals have two copies of each gene, that such genes remain distnct entities, and that these genes segregate and are distributed fairly during the formation of eggs/sperm
migration
increases genetic diversity in a population due to new individuals with new trait variants joining the resident gene pool
morphological traits
the physical underpinning for the production of behavior
mutation
a change in a genetic make up which creates new variation in a population
natural selection
A process that occurs when variants of a trait that best suit an organism to its environment and that are heritable. Increase in frequency over evolutionary time; this process requires variation, fitness differences, and heritability
neuroethology
the study of the neural basis for animal’s natural behaviors
neurohormones
released into the blood via neurons, which are typically located in the brain that secrete these hormones directly into the bloodstream
nodes
The points on a phylogenetic tree where branches split. These splits represent common ancestors for species before and after.
observation experimentation
Gathering data on what animals do, without attempting to manipulate or control any ethological or environmental variable
overlapping generations
differently aged generations working together and living together in a single colony
parsimony analysis
a technique for choosing among alternative phylogenetic trees by selecting the tree that requires the fewest changes
peptide hormones
protein hormones affecting the endocrine systems that are made of small chains of amino acids
phenotype
observable characteristics of an organism
phylogeny
the evolutionary history of an organism
polarity
the direction of historical change in a trait
predator inspection
The tendency of an individual to move towards a certain predator to gather information about the danger of the predator
Protein Hormones
Can be stored in endocrine cells/do not have to be released immediately into the bloodstream, water-soluble, do not require any other transport proteins to travel through the blood
proximate analysis
analysis based on asking questions that focus on immediate causation
GTL mapping (Quantitative trait loci)
A powerful way of finding the general region of the genome in which quantitative trait loci reside
Recessive allele
Two copies of an allele are necessary for the expression of a trait
social learning
situations in which animals learn certain behaviors by copying others
Steroid hormone
Hormone with a longer lag time between when a stimulus is senses and when the hormone is produced, one that cannot be stored in cells/immediately released into the bloodstream after they are produced, hydrophobic and usually require a chemical chaperone to move them through the bloodstream
theoretical approaches
the approach to animal behavior that involves the creation of a mathematical model of the world
truncation selection experiment
an experimental method of selecting parents to breed for the next generation based on phenotypic expression of a trait
ultimate analysis
an analysis relating to the evolution of a trait
variation
For natural selection to act, there must be variation in the trait under investigation. Caused by either environmental or genetic factors
xenophobia
The fear of strangers or those from outside one’s group
Timbergen’s four types of questions
Mechanistic, developmental, evolutionary, survival value
individual learning
a change in behavior due to experience that does not involve learning from other individuals
